CURIOUS GEORGE - Boy George investigates his traumatic family history and Irish roots

To most of us, Boy George is a pop star of the early 1980s, a Londoner whose hits with Culture Club catapulted him to global fame. But although he was raised in south-east London, his roots are as Irish as a pint of Guinness. George was one of six children born to Gerry and Dublin-born Dinah O’Dowd.

George is keen to find out more about Bridget, the mother of his mum. (Image: GETTY)

As a youngster, he found that the Troubles meant his Irish roots were impossible to escape.

“Growing up in the 70s, being Irish, you were really aware of the IRA bombings and innocent people were being killed,” muses George, 57. “And they were such big news, you were made aware of the fact your family were Irish.”

And it’s an uncomfortable family history on many fronts, George discovers, when digging up his roots in this week’s Who Do You Think You Are?.

“I think that there will be a lot of sadness and a lot of mascara running, even though I’m not wearing any make-up,” he quips.

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George is keen to find out more about Bridget, the mother of his mum, Dinah, who famously wrote a book in 2007 exposing George’s dad as a wife beater.

Dinah knows only that her mother was raised in a children’s home in Dublin. His search confirms that in 1919, at the age of just six, Bridget had been sent to Dublin’s Goldenbridge Convent Industrial School after being found on the streets.

George is startled to discover that Bridget’s parents, Kate and John, although very poor, were both alive at the time. He can’t fathom their decision to allow their daughter to be taken away.

“I think that however bad things are, when you’re with people that love you, even the worst conditions can be bearable,” says George. “I think that you’re always better off with your family.”

Ricky Wilson, Paloma Faith, Boy George and Will.i.am of The Voice UK judge line up 2015. (Image: GETTY)

when you hear these stories, you realise why she was the way she was, she was obviously hiding a lot of pain, but she got on with it

Boy George

Yet Bridget spent 10 years at Goldenbridge – where girls worked and were punished cruelly – during which time both of her parents died.

“It’s tragic,” says George, who remembers her as being quite strict. “When you hear these stories, you realise why she was the way she was. She was obviously hiding a lot of pain, but she got on with it. I’m really proud of her.”

George also discovers that his great-aunt, Annie Glynn, married Thomas Bryan, an IRA member who was executed in 1921 in Mountjoy Prison and buried in an unmarked grave within its walls.

Annie was expecting their first child at the time.

“The fact that my great-aunt Annie was pregnant and Thomas was facing the hangman…” sighs George. “It’s the most awful thing.”

However, peace in Northern Ireland has brought rapprochement and some closure to the tragedy of Thomas Bryan and the other nine IRA members hanged during that time.

George said that making WDYTYA? Who Do You Think You Are? Has given him insight into his ancestors. (Image: GETTY)

In 2001, their bodies were exhumed and “The Forgotten 10”, as they came to be known, were reburied with state honours in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery.

George honours Thomas Bryan’s memory by teaming up with Irish band Lankum to sing the rebel song Kevin Barry, which he remembers from his childhood.

But it has much more resonance for George now that he knows his own family’s role in the Irish War of Independence.

George, who is a judge on The Voice Australia, concludes that making Who Do You Think You Are? has given him vital insights into the lives of his ancestors and the stoicism with which they accepted their fate.

“To find out the family history has been very enlightening,” says George.

“This story is like a great Irish song – the sort of thing you’d hear someone singing at a funeral or a family wedding. My family’s association to really important parts of Irish history is a revelation.”